Issue No. 54

July 2013

What's Your Willpower Budget?

Dear Friends of Balancing Act,

So often coaching clients moan, "I just don't have enough willpower!"

Truth is, research indicates we may have a finite amount. And spending it wisely may be a key to success. Read on for some questions to ask yourself before you drain that willpower budget.

Similarly, you may profit all the way to the cellular level from pleasurable experiences. But the lasting effects depend on the nature of the pleasure. This month's newsletter offers some guidance on what kinds of positive experiences count the most.

Do you find yourself stuck, interrupted, flailing with too much to do as a leader at work? A new book that applies positive psychology principles to the business world offers practical, research-based techniques for becoming a more effective leader.

And finally, just for fun, learn from a video cat how to increase your personal well-being in a surprising way.

Pat

Honor Your Willpower Budget

Good job on turning down that piece of candy. Maybe not so good to turn down every treat.

Researchers who examine willpower find that denying ourselves wholesale can exhaust our willpower supply. Then, when we need it for something really important - like staying power for a key project - it may not be there.

We can also exhaust ourselves by spending energy on trivial decisions - easy to do in a world where there are hundreds of choices for even diced tomatoes. Energy conservation is why President Obama says he sticks to blue and gray suits. With world-class decisions to make, why waste energy on too many choices?

So here are some questions to ask yourself before you deny yourself or find yourself agonizing over a decision:

Is this a decision worth making each time, or can I establish a routine instead?
If it's an important decision, is my energy level right now adequate to be making it? Or should I postpone the decision until my energy is higher?
What simple ways can I replenish my energy level?

Go here for further reading on willpower and how you can put it to work for you.

Purposeful Living Affects Immune Cells

The well-advertised "good life" of cruise ship vacations and unabated spending may create a perception of happiness.

But hedonism may actually have a negative effect on our immune systems at the cellular level. So says new research led by positive psychologist Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina.

The study compared inflammation levels of those experiencing pleasure through self-gratification versus those whose pleasure came from serving others and feeling driven by a nobler purpose. Inflammation levels of hedonists were high. Those living a life of purpose were low.

Go here for a larger review of how activities of compassion and powerfully affect well-being for the better.

And then conduct an inventory of your own life. How are your serving a larger purpose?

Profit From The Positive

If you're reading this newsletter, chances are you're balancing A LOT in your life. Or trying to.

If one of those items is a leadership position at work, a new business book based on positive psychology principles can help you work more happily and productively.

Profit from the Positive (McGraw-Hill) is a new hit-the-ground-running book that summarizes key points from each chapter and offers reflective questions for the reader based on those key points.

For procrastinators, for example, the authors offer ways to "trick yourself into starting" projects and have readers figure out how to do this on their own stalled projects. They also urge turning goals into habits and challenge readers to identify one goal that can become a habit instead.

Authors Margaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin are both business consultants and graduates of the first Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at Penn. Not surprisingly, they consistently encourage readers to inventory not only their shortcomings but also what they are doing well.

Copyright 2013 Pat Snyder

In This Issue

Willpower

Purpose

Positive Business

Quick Links

Pat's Website

Dog Journal

Latest Column

BE MORE DOG

Want a quick boost of feel-good?

Then take a minute to heed this unlikely advice from a cat.

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NEW TIME-SAVING
STRENGTHS TEST

Are you naturally courageous? Creative? Prudent?

The Values In Action inventory, developed by positive psychologists to detect your highest character strengths,
is now faster to take than ever.

The free online inventory has evolved from its original 240-question version to a slimmer 120-question model that takes around 20 minutes.

Why bother? Strengths use can increase your overall well-being and your energy and flow at work.

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LEASH LAW

NO. 54:

UNPACKING

This is a law for those who have had the good (?) fortune to move in the last year.

Do not unpack unless it is absolutely necessary.

Heed the one-year rule: "If you haven't used it in a year, you probably don't need it."

Donate and rejoice! You will not be one of those people who at 70 are dealing with a 45-year accumulation.

This is based on one of the 74 leash laws offered in Pat's book, The Dog Ate My Planner: Tales and Tips from an Overbooked Life.